Feature: The Ingredients of Chinatown with Full Flower Moon Band

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Last month, Babyshakes Dillon unleashed her album Chinatown through her project Full Flower Moon Band. Along with the album, she also released a movie that brings Chinatown to life visually. Below, Babyshakes Dillon reveals what inspired her to create the record.

Surrealism, Brecht & Dadaism

Without Dadaism, I would have no matter what. (Reader pauses for a minute to think.) There are two ways to use brackets. 1. Outside of the mind, with the full stop within it, 2. Within the mind, with the full stop outside of it.

Logic Pro X

Could not have made this record without sitting in front of my computer editing drums on Logic for weeks at a time. This is a very vital ingredient to the sound of the record. The final album is 60% drum edits.

Edward St

I recorded all the guitar parts at our house on Edward St, Melbourne. It was my favourite place to be, with a beautiful garden in Summer and lots of lentil soup in the winter, living with my closest friends. However, my favourite time was the 2 weeks I spent alone over Christmas and New Years, tracking all the guitar parts. The most memorable moments were tracking on Christmas Day and NYE. I was alone while everyone else celebrated. It was so liberating. NYE I went out into the yard at midnight and could hear fireworks, but couldn't see them. It felt like the end of the world.

Mount Nebo, Mt Glorious & McWhirters

I was living in these places while I wrote the songs and started conceptualising the film. I went from living isolated on a mountain, with frogs, spiders, snakes and fires, to an apartment in Fortitude Valley where I could not leave the house without using a swipe card and an elevator. It blew my mind and inspired the 'utopian future' I planned as the backdrop for my Chinatown movie.

Forgiveness

I was living at McWhirters, having a coffee with my boyfriend in Chinatown one morning. I could see the name Chinatown written above the boulevard. I told him I had decided in that moment to call my debut record 'Chinatown'. He laughed at me and said it was a terrible idea, and that I would never be able to do it. That really hurt me, but slowly I've been able to forgive him for not believing in me.